Frequently Asked Questions

ParrotTalk is a free, independent IELTS practice simulator. It offers full mock tests for all four sections: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking, with instant, AI-generated feedback and an estimated band score, so you can practice under realistic conditions before your real exam.

No. ParrotTalk is an independent, unofficial preparation tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected in any way to IELTS, the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, or Cambridge Assessment English. "IELTS" and related marks belong to their respective owners. We reference them only to describe the exam format we help you practice for. See our Terms of Use for the full statement.

No, it's an AI-generated estimate, not an official IELTS score. A real IELTS result comes from certified human examiners following a strict marking framework. ParrotTalk's band is produced by an AI model scoring your answers against the same four official criteria examiners use. ⚠️ Word of caution: your estimated band may differ from an official result by roughly ±0.5 to 1 band: this is not a measured accuracy figure or a guarantee, just a heads-up on how much variance to expect. Use it as a practice signal to track your progress, not as proof of your level for a visa, university, or immigration application.

When you record your Speaking answers, your audio is sent to Google Gemini (an AI model) via our server, which scores you on the same four official IELTS Speaking criteria: Fluency & Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range & Accuracy, and Pronunciation. This process is fully automated. No human examiner reviews your answers. Pronunciation in particular is judged by AI listening to your actual recording, which is inherently more variable than a trained human ear. Before your first recording, ParrotTalk asks for your explicit consent to this processing.

No. Your audio is sent to our server, forwarded to Google Gemini for evaluation, and then discarded. It is not stored on our servers or retained afterward. Only your resulting band scores are kept (for 90 days) to build your practice history. Full details in our Privacy Policy.

Yes, currently free to use, with no subscription and no credit card. ParrotTalk is a non-commercial beta project (see our Terms of Use), so this may evolve as it matures, but any change would be communicated clearly and would never retroactively affect scores or data already saved in your browser.

We can't yet quote a measured precision figure for ParrotTalk's band estimates, and we won't invent one. Our goal is to calibrate scoring by comparing ParrotTalk's estimated bands against real, official IELTS Test Report Forms from beta users who complete both, and to publish that measured accuracy gap openly and transparently once we have enough real data, rather than assume it. Until then, treat every band as a directional practice estimate: useful for spotting weak areas and tracking progress, not a substitute for an official test.

Our Writing and Speaking content is built specifically for IELTS Academic (Writing Task 1 asks you to describe a graph, chart, or table, not write a letter, as in General Training). Our Listening band conversion uses the same official scale IELTS applies to both Academic and General Training, so it's accurate either way. Our Reading band conversion currently only implements the Academic scale. General Training candidates can still use the same passages to practice reading skills, but the band shown won't accurately reflect real General Training scoring, which uses different, generally stricter thresholds at the same raw score. A dedicated General Training Reading scale is on our roadmap.

No sign-up required. Your progress is saved automatically in your browser. Just open the site and start practising.

Yes. ParrotTalk is mobile-friendly. The Speaking module requires microphone access, which most modern mobile browsers support. For the best AI feedback experience, we recommend Chrome or Firefox.

We're actively expanding beyond the current 4 full mock tests per section. We don't have a fixed release schedule to commit to yet, so check back on the site for new Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking tests.

Yes. ParrotTalk gives you a full IELTS mock test across all four sections, Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, with instant AI feedback and an estimated band at the end. It is 100% free and needs no sign-up. There is also a Quick Mock Test that covers all four sections in about 50 minutes.

We can't give a measured accuracy figure yet, and we won't invent one. Expect your estimated band to sit within about half a band to a full band of an official result. In our own beta feedback, most test-takers said their band came out lower than they expected, not higher, so the AI leans strict rather than generous. See our proof page for the exact figures.

Yes. The Speaking module runs a three-part IELTS Speaking test with an AI examiner, about 12 minutes, and scores you on the four official criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. It is free and works in most modern mobile browsers with microphone access.

Yes. The writing checker reads your Task 2 essay and returns an estimated band with a detailed correction on task response, coherence, vocabulary and grammar. Writing Task 1 is supported too. It is free, with no sign-up.

On ParrotTalk. Write or paste your essay into the writing checker and you get a free correction: an estimated band, the points where marks were lost, and specific fixes to make. The same correction works on both Writing Task 1 and Task 2.

The full mock runs all four sections back to back, about 3 hours, like the real test. If you have less time, the Quick Mock Test covers all four sections in about 50 minutes. Both give an estimated band at the end.

Four full mock tests per section today, for Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, plus the Quick Mock Test, which draws from more than 3000 combinations so it rarely repeats. New tests are added over time.